Alan Banks

Name: Alan Banks

Gender: Male

Age: 18

Grade: 12

School: Cochise High School

Hobbies and Interests: Debate, soccer, Discordianism

Appearance: Alan stands at 6’1” and weighs 162 pounds, giving him a build that is somewhat large and imposing, but quite lean. His body is well-toned, and his muscles are pronounced, though not especially so. His chocolate-brown skin requires little maintenance, as his complexion is quite good, though he’ll reluctantly treat it during his occasional outbreaks.

Alan is, for the most part, conventionally handsome, with a heart-shaped face, strong jaw, and intense, dark brown eyes. His nose is of moderate size, his mouth typically widened into a playful, mischievous smile, and he has some slight stubble on his cheeks and chin. His curly hair is stylishly messy, cut fairly short, and held together by copious amounts of hair gel. He is erect and leaning forward slightly when fully engaged, but his posture is otherwise deliberately terrible.

Both his lobes are pierced, adorned with a small set of crystal pendants. His wardrobe is mostly semi-casual, with darker button-down shirts, worn with the top button undone, and dark, close-cut jeans. Occasionally he shows up in a dark-blue 3-piece suit, in preparation for debate. On the day of the kidnapping, he was wearing dark blue jeans, a navy blue button-down shirt, and tennis shoes.

Biography: Alan was born to African-American parents in Kingman, and has been raised there ever since. His parents met at Arizona State University, and married shortly afterward. His father, a history major, found a job teaching high school at Kingman, and his mother works as an accountant.

Well-acquainted with the historic marginalization of minorities in the US, Alan’s father sought to instill in his son a strong sense of social justice. By the age of seven, he had already heard of the concepts of privilege, of overt and covert racism, and of institutionalized oppression. While Alan of course was too young to fully grasp these concepts, his tendency to parrot them in school earned him the enmity of many of his peers. This didn’t affect Alan too negatively, however, since the young boy delighted in irritating his peers.

Concepts came easily to Alan throughout elementary school, and his parents, while encouraging when it came to his academics, took a fairly laid-back approach to his schooling, preferring to let him develop his interests on his own. Thus, when Alan slacked off in math and science even though he had enough potential to do quite well in those subjects, his parents were not overly concerned. However, they did take issue with Alan’s constant antagonizing of his peers. While they were aware that it was unfair to force him to express his views in polite, non-confrontational ways, they also recognized that it was undesirable for him to alienate his peers. Their efforts to change his behavior on this front were to no avail, however, as Alan delighted in being an irritant and provoking reactions out of his classmates.

Alan spent a good portion of his childhood trying out various sports, including basketball, baseball, and soccer, but he only maintained activity in the latter. He joined the local soccer team, and played fairly well in the striker position. Alan also avidly followed international football on TV, and, besides the United States, rooted for Germany because he liked how the flag looked.

Despite the dislike he earned in middle school, Alan rose to become quite popular in middle school, where his delight in pushing the envelope came to be seen as rebellious and ‘cool’. Confident and charismatic, Alan proved adept at making friends. He developed a tendency to play devil’s advocate and argue for the sake of argument, causing the teachers to view him as intelligent and articulate, while his fellow students enjoyed his tendency to generate fun and chaos.

Alan joined the school’s soccer team, where he was, again, appointed the position of striker. He was largely an average player, with above average scoring abilities but a tendency to lose the ball rather easily. Alan was never very passionate about soccer, viewing it mostly as a fun diversion. As he grew older and the sport grew more serious, he gradually lost interest, and decided to quit the sport before entering high school. However, he maintained an interest in watching association football, and, as the German team took its current shape and began playing with the precise, elegant style for which they are now renown, developed a loyalty to the German team that was no longer superficial.

Alan joined the debate team when he entered high school, and he quickly proved to be an excellent debater. Joining the Lincoln-Douglas team as a freshman, Alan improbably managed to qualify for the state competition in his first year of debate. From there, he has proceeded to have a highly illustrious debating career, qualifying for the Tournament of Champions, among debate’s most prestigious national tournaments, every year beginning his sophomore year. He favors a highly progressive style of debate, and routinely uses kritiks and theory shells. While still skilled at persuasion, he prefers to win with his arguments rather than his rhetoric, and he has little patience for lay judges.

Alan maintains an argumentative attitude to this day, and enjoys questioning others’ views, both to irritate them and because he believes it does them good to challenge their perspectives. His social justice upbringing has also bore fruit, and, combined with the research he does for debate and excessive travelling to attend tournaments, has made him very worldly and aware of global issues. While something of a carefree gadfly, he is highly aware of the importance of words and is thus careful in making sure that his verbal abuse stops short of bullying. However, he still occasionally takes things too far when he is enjoying himself too much, though he generally apologizes for it. Alan has the reputation and demeanor of a charismatic rogue, flaunting convention and breaking rules on principle. While not actively malicious, he can be a bit insensitive to others’ hurt feelings, though he consciously reevaluates his perspective every time he finds out he has hurt someone. While some students have been irritated by him and others genuinely hurt, most find that he livens up the atmosphere with his presence.

Alan has tried alcohol and done some soft drugs, mostly at parties. He holds little interest in drug use itself, doing it primarily out of curiosity and his desire to break rules. He was once caught and nearly suspended, but let off relatively lightly so as to keep him on the debate team.

When asked about his religion, Alan jokingly refers to himself as a Discordian. While he, like most adherents, does not actually take Discordianism seriously as a religion, the philosophy it espouses resonates deeply with him. Specifically, he holds its tenet of “taking everything and nothing seriously” as his highest value. Alan believes that taking things too seriously causes him to miss out on the fun in life, while taking nothing seriously causes him to miss out on meaningful opportunities. To him, the key is not moderation, but duality—to take things seriously in all the right ways, and to take these same things lightly when given the chance. Thus, while he will merrily sow chaos throughout the school hallways for its own sake, he takes his goals of maximizing both his and others’ enjoyment of life seriously. However, the fact remains that Alan’s mouth runs faster than his considerateness, and he often doesn’t think through the impacts of clever put-downs or witty jabs before he delivers them.

Alan’s real religious affiliation is technically agnosticism, but his aggressive stances cause many to mistake him for an atheist. Alan maintains that while he acknowledges the possibility of a god’s existence, he doesn’t think there is one, he doesn’t want there to be one, and if there was one he would lead a rebellion against it. Debate has made him highly skeptical of religion on a logical level, and his personal distaste for religion is because he sees religion as overbearing, limiting, and dogmatic.

In his senior year, Alan maintains a wide circle of acquaintances and is generally well-liked throughout the school. He has few who he would consider close friends, however, holding most people at arms-length. While this occasionally troubles Alan, it rarely bothers him. Alan is naturally extroverted, engaged with others, and ironic. While he rarely lets others see a hidden vulnerable side to him, this is because he is genuinely sure of himself and feels he has little to hide. Alan enjoys being at the center of attention, but he doesn’t particularly need attention either.

Alan, despite flirting frequently with both sexes, has never had either a long-term or a short-term relationship, largely because he has refused to pursue one. He flirts primarily for the entertainment value, and he is quick to clarify so before a serious romantic relationship actually starts. This is because Alan fears commitment and likes to keep his options open, but also wishes to avoid the heartbreak that occurs during the breakups he believes would inevitably occur. Despite flirting with boys as well as girls, Alan is straight; he mainly flirts with boys to make his more homophobic classmates uncomfortable, and because he enjoys making his peers question his sexuality (he refuses to reveal it one way or the other).

Alan, despite his intelligence, is only above-average as a student, making mid-B’s in most of his classes and A’s in history and English. He does the bare minimum of work necessary in each class, as most of his drive and energy is directed into Debate. Alan plans to major in business and social work at Arizona State University once he graduates from Cochise. While he wants to make an impact, he is determined to enjoy himself at the same time, even if this limits the scope of what he could do.

Advantages: Despite having quit soccer years ago, Alan is still fairly athletic, and though his strength is only slightly above average, he has good speed and stamina. He is quite popular, and would find it relatively easy to make allies. Not only is Alan intelligent, but his brand of intelligence is quite applicable to the game, as Alan is good at thinking on his feet and improvising due to years of debating.

Disadvantages: Alan can be impulsive at times, and he has poor self-control. His love of chaos means that he disdains long-term planning, even in situations where it can be helpful. His pursuit of controversy has earned him a fair number of enemies in school, and even those who like him hold little sense of particular loyalty towards him. Alan's propensity for flaunting authority is dangerous for his situation, and could get him killed.

Designated Number: Male student no. 045

---

Designated Weapon: Toy Lightsaber

Conclusion: So, I learned a new word today. Anyway, B045, you would have a lot going for you if it weren't for that terrible draw. A guy like you is clearly a rogue, though. Chaotic Neutral? Probably Chaotic Neutral. How good are your bluff checks, buddy? - Dennis Lourvey

'The above biography is as written by Zetsumodernista. No edits or alterations to the author's original work have been made.'

Evaluations
Handled by: Zetsumodernista, Wolley

Kills: None

Killed By: Isabel Ramirez

Collected Weapons: Toy Lightsaber (assigned weapon, to Lili Williams), Metal Pipe (scavenged, to Jeremiah Fury)

Allies: Kaitlyn Greene

Enemies: Alice Baker, Sandra Dyer, Isabel Ramirez

Mid-game Evaluation: Alan joined the trading that occurred on the connection bridge between Lili Williams and Kaitlyn Greene. He essentially gave away his weapon and some of his food and made an attempt to get the other girls into the 'Rebel Alliance' he was trying to form. Scout Pfeiffer, who was passing, turned him down and challenged his assumptions before she left. Lili also left after the trades were done. Kaitlyn however was inclined to go along with his plans for the time being. They departed for the bell tower.

Soon after they traveled down the path from the tower to the cove, where they found Hannah Kendrickstone, Olivia Fischer, and Irene Djezari. Alan attempted to recruit them into his plan, which he vaguely described as 'deceptively incompetent'. Hannah was unimpressed with the idea and wanted to leave with her friends; Olivia and Irene were less sure and heard Kaitlyn and Alan out, but they were scared off along with Hannah when the tide began to rise into the cove. Kaitlyn said they could follow but Alan rejected that idea, and the two left to pursue their plan further, Alan swearing at length to himself that he would it seriously now.

This led the two of them to set up an ambush on the slopes, the next day. They anticipated they'd be able to interdict Kimiko Kao and take her BKA weapon. They squabbled pettily among themselves for a while, but ultimately were able to get the plan rolling. Alan was the assigned bait, and he stepped out from their cover to confront her first, armed with Kaitlyn's scutum. Alan loudly distracted while Kaitlyn tried to take down Kimiko from behind, but Caleb Diamond intervened by alerting Kimiko and she was able to escape, leaving Alan and Kaitlyn empty handed.

Alan continued to follow Kait, but had taken a blow to his pride and was unsure what the plan was from there. They found Mia Rose in the staff library the morning of Day 3, and tried to be friendly. He then tried to recruit Mia into his plans when she revealed she had a gun. She refused, as she found his vague plans difficult to swallow. Kaitlyn then baited Mia into a trap, and Alan followed Kaitlyn's lead and pounced on Mia and held her still with his strength. Mia struggled, but it wasn't enough to keep Kaitlyn at bay; she injected Mia with her assigned weapon: tranquilizers. The dosage was too much and Mia went comatose, and shortly after stopped breathing. Alan began to panic, realizing he'd become an accomplice to murder, despite his intentions otherwise. Both of them made it clear their working relationship was ended, and internally this left Alan scrambling for justification for his actions. He settled on playing up the role his actions had given him, that of a rebellious villain, as he departed.

He armed himself with a pipe as he traveled, and began to stalk the asylum. He threateningly presented himself to Alice Baker and Sandra Dyer in the one-on-one therapy rooms. Still working up the nerve to attack, he offered the two of them a head start on running away. Alice began to run, while Sandra remained behind to distract him. He took the bait and swung with his pipe, dinging her, but she lunged and tackled him to the ground. Despite his insistence on fighting coldly and methodically he lashed out with a bite to her hand, she only narrowly escaped from there and he was left contemplating his next purposely villainous act.

Without much of a plan he threw himself headlong into a confrontation with Blair Moore and Rene Wolfe. They weren't especially pleased to see him and made no effort to match his conversational overtures. Indeed, when he asked for their names they both merely twisted the question in a way that allowed them to barge past him. He made no effort to follow them, and no effort to address the sting of having been stymied and rejected once more. He tried to rest in the room they'd vacated for a bit, but failed to, and moved on with his mind continuing to haunt him with rambles of purpose and vision.

On Day 5 he was led to the utilities warehouse, where he had the fortune to sneak undetected into a confrontation between Jeremiah Fury, Matthew Moradi, and Bart Cappotelli. After quickly appraising the situation he found his only weapon in the soap on the shelves and tossed a bar at Bart. He missed, and then announced himself with dramatic flair. Both Jerry and Matt warned him to not do anything stupid, and for a bit of time they tersely discussed Bart's request for help, which involved the founding of a group dedicated to maintaining the peace. That set Alan off, he ranted about how peace was not possible and how his way of invoking chaos was superior. That drew Jerry's attention, Jerry confronted Alan and threatened him into calming down, Alan tried to fire back verbally but Jerry instead got in the first punch and Alan was knocked out. Alan would only wake later, furious, with his left eye still hurting and his weapons and supplies pilfered.

Alan noticed Scout Pfeiffer while wandering, and immediately felt an impossible to ignore aggravation at her for having mocked his plans and refused to cooperate that first day on the bridge. He decided to stalk her, musing at length on various plans, some violent, to get his petty revenge. However Scout, and by extension Alan himself, were drawn into a growing brawl in the doctor's offices. Alan hid away for a bit, nervously giggling to himself, preparing for the fun and chaos ahead. Alan jumped into the fight when he finally couldn't take the adrenaline anymore, he found Noah Whitley already dead in a corridor, killed by Isabel Ramirez, who was 'surrounded' by Scout and Fiyori Senay, both of whom had already taken beatings and weren't faring so well. Alan sprinted past them for the gun Scout had lost wrestling with Isabel, but Isabel also had the same intentions and a knife, she lunged and drove the knife into his throat so she could get the gun. Alan was amused enough that he'd died without accomplishing much of anything, but he still saw the potential for a last minute redemption- rather, what would have been a redemption if he'd managed to accomplish anything evil to begin with. He stopped Isabel from executing one of the other girls by blindly charging her and tackling her, this forced her to waste another shot on him and he finally died, content.

Post-Game Evaluation: A self styled agent of chaos is typically a particularly heavy handed redressing of the familiar concept wherein a player justifies their turn through some amount of self-enforced madness. B045 approached this on a conceptual level, but fascinatingly enough his own character deficiencies allowed him to act in a uniquely ambiguous manner. In short, he was incompetent enough for his failures but not so much that he lacked entertainment value. - Christina Stockton

Memorable Quotes: "That's fucking easy. We set out to fuck the system, but we do it incompetently so the terrorists are too busy laughing at us to blow our collars. Until it's too late." -- In theory, the gist of his plan.

"Though I guess I feel more bad about not feeling bad than actually feeling bad. Or something." -- On Jeremiah Larkin's death, when Mia brings it up.

"I couldn't help but overhear your conversation. Pretty sweet to hold a grudge against one person even when most people is killing each other, you know" -- After overhearing Blair and Rene talking about Caedyn and inserting himself into the conversation.

"Look around you hero wannabe, all the people you may have seen sleeping in class, laughing together or getting straight A's are now killing each other. This is hell. And here we're all condemned to live and die as monsters no matter how hard we try." -- Part of his rebuke of Bart's 'keep the peace' plan.

Other/Trivia

 * Alan's death marked the halfway point of V6.

Threads
Below is a list of threads containing Alan, in chronological order.

V6:
 * Never Known Questions
 * Until all our yesterdays are lighted fools...
 * Robber Barons
 * Elapsam Semel Occasionem Non Ipse Potest Iuppiter Reprehendere
 * Restore/Restart/Quit
 * Creeping Doom
 * Let the Darkness Flow Through You
 * Die Anywhere Else

Your Thoughts
''Whether you were a fellow handler in SOTF or just an avid reader of the site, we'd like to know what you thought about Alan Banks. What did you like, or dislike, about the character? Let us know here!''